I have desperately tried to love this book as I fell heavily in love with The Beekeeper of Aleppo. I think I was naive in expecting a similar writing style and themes and was eager to devour this book in much the same way I had with The Beekeeper, alas, after trying and failing several times to consume this novel, I finally admit defeat.

I have found it hard to maintain interest, hard to understand, and have not appreciated anything about the book other than some beautiful though seemingly meaningless descriptions. (Meaningless to me because I am struggling to follow along).

After years of picking up, putting down, backtracking, reading some more, stepping away, rinse and repeat, I have decided to step away from the book for good and let it fall into the ether. I couldn't even bring myself to skip to the end to read the conclusion. Consequently, I am unable to recommend this book to anyone and note that my rating of the book, 2 out of 5 stars, may not be the fairest assessment. However, I realise that there are many readers like myself that latch onto authors because of previous works. If this is the case, this review is what my peers should be aware of especially as I struggled on through 65% of the book.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

One one level, a story about a missing woman, but it is more than that – its about the impact on those people left behind. Songbirds is based on a true story. Chronicling several migrant women that go missing, with little interest in finding them.
A carefully written story navigating so much on how much someone can impact on lives for the positive and for the negative. A story that whilst someone can be cared for very much but some people, others will never give them the importance or attention they fully deserve.
It poignant and emotive.

This was my first time reading a book from the author but I am delighted to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I look forward to reading more books from the writer in the future

This book is set in Cyprus and told from dual perspective.
It is a beautifully written book.
I found the details of the poaching of the birds difficult to read and the description of this was vivid and distressing.
This was nearly a 5 star read for me

I was surprised by this book, I don’t know what I expected really, but I found this one very different to my expectations after reading Beekeeper.

I really enjoyed following Nisha’s story through the perspectives given and the authors note I’ve read since has really brought the whole story into perspective too. It’s such a sad tale, made even more poignant knowing it’s based around truth.

I didn’t really enjoy the depictions of the songbirds being poached, but I understand why it was there.

3.5 stars

Deeply moving and ever so fascinating! Really enjoyed Christy Lefteri’s latest novel as I am an all time fan of The Beekeeper of Aleppo.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

This is a beautifully written novel about immigrant workers and their struggles. The characters are so well-developed and the author does an amazing job of painting a picture of their lives and humanising the immigrant experience.

I was a bit disappointed in this book after the beekkeeper of Aleppo. felt that the writer was trying to replicate her first book, but this didn't come close. it was an ok read, if i hadn't read the beekeeper i wouldn't have been so disappointed in this one. Would still recommend to others

Based on real life, and well researched by the author, this is the story of the disappearance of several foreign, female domestic workers and children. Set
in Cyprus, we learn that Petra’s maid, Nisha, has gone missing and, whilst this is totally out of character, she struggles to find anyone who will take the disappearance seriously. The story focuses on the plight of these domestic workers and makes a comparison with the problem of wildlife poaching in Cyprus. Beautifully written, if a little depressing. Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5

The story follows Nisha who works has a nurse maid. One day she disappears without any warning , leaving behind her secret partner and the little girl and mother who she works for. The story flits between the three people that I’ve just mentioned searching for Nisha and the world of poaching in which her partner has been sucked into. This book was a bit of a disappointment as I loved the beekeeper of Aleppo which was her previous book.

I enjoyed the style of the writing I found that it flowed beautifully and had a whimsical feel to it. I also really liked the characters of Nisha and the mum and daughter who she worked for so I wanted her to be ok and I found myself becoming attached to her and routing for her throughout the book.

I didn’t like the poaching side of the story. I hated the descriptions of what the main male character did to the songbirds. I also found that the story was very disjointed and it often left you wondering what on earth was happening. The last ten percent of the book also seemed like a completely different story which also let it down in my opinion. Overall not a great book especially if like me you don’t like the topic of poaching.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to it before it was archived but will review in full when I do.

🌿BOOK REVIEW🌿

Songbirds by Christy Lefteri

“But be patient. Reality and truth need time to unravel.”

Nisha is a Nepali woman who is working as a maid for Petra and her daughter Alike in Cyprus. Over the last 9 months she has become integrated into their family unit as she raises Alike like her own daughter. One day, Nisha goes missing and Petra, and her tenant Yiannis are instantly worried. The police aren’t interested in a foreign workers disappearance so the two take matters into their own hands to try and find out what happened to their beloved Nisha.

This book really dives into the realities of how foreign workers are valued by the public and the police. In that sense it really reminded me of 10 minutes, 38 seconds in this Strange World. It seems that the only people that care about finding Nisha are Petra, Yiannis and the other maids in the community.

We also see the way in which some people find themselves partaking in illegal practices as they are in a vulnerable place and find themselves unable to leave that situation.

There are interweaving stories in this book from Nisha, Petra and Yiannis that work together to lead you along the path to finding out what happened to Nisha. At times I felt it became slightly disjointed.

I would have loved for Nisha, or the other maids, to get their own POV chapters as this may have added to the emotional connection within the book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️CW// animal cruelty, miscarriage, death, murder, racism,

Christy Lefteri is one incredibly talented and thoughtful author, I absolutely adored 'The Beekeeper of Aleppo' and was overjoyed to receive an ARK, thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House.
Songbirds is so all absorbing, so incredibly sad but just incredibly beautifully written, you will not regret picking either one of Christy novels.

Another great read by Lefteri! I found this book really interesting and I learned a lot about the culture of Cyprus through how Nisha was treated and her disappearance was “investigated”. I enjoyed the journey of Petra finding out who Nisha really was and her connecting with her daughter throughout as well. Overall, a well-written, enjoyable and educational read for me.

I had high hopes for this one but it’s just not one I found particularly memorable or one that resonated with me. I wish that it was one I could say I devoured but it didn’t live up to expectations. However I’ve seen lots of other reviewers loved this title and many praising the author’s style of writing

Another incredible novel by Christy Lefteri. She writes so eloquently and it feels as thought you're with the characters from the get go. I enjoyed the character development!

Review hadn’t saved. Loved bee keeper of Aleppo - Really enjoyed this one- writing what fantastic and drew me in, didn’t want it to end!

This book will stay with you forever. It was so hard to read that her disappearance wasn’t looked into as she was a foreigner. It sheds a light on the harsh reality of some countries today and should enlighten everyone. The mirroring of the songbirds plight with the storyline is so well written. Lefteris work is truly art, I would definitely recommend this book!

I loved everything about this book. The beautiful writing, the vivid descriptions of the wildlife, the wonderful characters… it was absolutely brilliant.

I really liked Yiannis and Petra. Both had flaws and their own stories to tell and I found them both to be really realistic characters. I found reading about Nisha from the perspectives of her lover and boss fascinating. We knew her feelings, her insecurities, her worries and details from her past, all without hearing from her directly. I found this really cleverly done by the author. The mystery of what happened to Nisha was handled sensitively whilst still being intriguing.

It’s a really emotive read, one that made me cry for many reasons. It’s a desperately sad story but the author has also filled the pages with so much love and hope. It was so beautifully written and there was one particular quote I highlighted because I loved it so much:

"Where there is love, there is a safe place for sadness."

Gorgeous.

The story is more than just a personal one. This isn’t just Nisha’s story. The author has loosely based it on actual events and it highlights the sad truths about foreign domestic workers. It’s an exploration of race and class and how these workers are treated. They leave behind their families, desperate to provide for them and are then treated as though they are invisible. The symbolism and connection between the trapped birds and the lives of the domestic workers was not lost on me. The harder they tried to free themselves, the more trapped they became.

Songbirds is a powerful and thought-provoking tale of loss, hope and redemption, but for me, it was mostly about love. The love between a mother and child and the love between Nisha and Yiannis. Petra and Nisha had both been through so much in their lives but Nisha’s capacity to love was inspiring not just to Petra but also to us as readers.

A brilliant book.